Honey Basil Beer Inquiry

[blugrazz]

So here is the scoop. My wife is having a wedding shower for her brother at our house in July. The theme is supposed to be ltalian since they are going to Italy. I like to pride myself in making a beer for the occasion but since Italy is really lager country and I am not in the lager brewing mood I thought I would try something different. I am going to try a Honey Basil Ale thinking 1) basil seens Italian as anything else you might put in beer, 2) it should be light and simple tasting for the general beer drinking public as an IPA or anything heady won't fly with this crowd.

Here is the recipe I ripped from somewhere on the interweb. I made a couple changes such as switching out EKG for Styrian Goldings and I think I added actual honey instead of just honey malt since my father is a beekeeper and I have cheap (free) supply of honey and I wanted to dry it out a little. The yeast is a bit placeholder.

Here is where I need your help. Any general thoughts on this recipe? Tips for using basil? Other perferred yeast in particular something that might dry it out or make it a bit champagney? Can I pitch two yeast, like an American Ale and Champagne or Belgian Ale yeast?

I reallly think the crowd would like it if it were a bit lighter finishing.

Honey Basil Ale 5g - American Pale Ale
================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.250 gal
Boil Size: 6.469 gal
Boil Time: 75.000 min
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 11.7 P
FG: 3.0 P
ABV: 4.6%
Bitterness: 25.6 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 12 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Briess - Pale Ale Malt Grain 7.000 lb Yes No 80% 4 L
Honey Malt Grain 3.000 lb No No 80% 25 L
Honey Adjunct 8.000 oz No No 75% 1 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L Grain 13.000 oz No No 75% 20 L
Cara-Pils/Dextrine Grain 13.000 oz No No 72% 2 L
Total grain: 12.125 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Styrian Goldings 4.5% 1.000 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 17.3
Styrian Goldings 4.5% 0.500 oz Boil 5.000 min Pellet 1.7
Styrian Goldings 4.5% 0.500 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 6.6

Misc
================================================================================
Name Type Use Amount Time
Basil Herb Boil 1.500 oz 5.000 min

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
Safale S-05 Ale Dry 2.232 tsp Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Infusion 2.188 gal 175.302 F 148.000 F 0.000 s
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 5.254 gal 174.960 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

 

[Pappers_]

I think it looks fine.

I would not use champagne yeast in this under any circumstances. I've never personally done this, but have heard bad reports from others. The US-05 will dry it out plenty, I think. If you're really worried about that, I recently tried the White Labs San Diego Super Yeast - crikey, that stuff attenuates fast and low. I wouldn't mix in a Belgian yeast for a non-craft-beer drinking crowd.

I understand your desire to make this an appealing drink for the non-craft-beer drinkers. One thought that occurs to me is that you could make the beer without the basil - some of the party guests might find the flavor of basil in a beer to be just too weird for them. But then you could have some fresh basil set aside to add to the beer, maybe with lemon or orange wedges.

In any case, this sounds like fun!

 

[joyceman]

Does that say 3 lbs of Honey Malt? For a 5 gal batch? If im reading that right thats way too much. That'll taste like Winnie the Poo's anus. Keep the honey malt under 1 lb and you'll do much better.

As to the actual honey, its going to ferment almost completely out, so the more you add the more it will dry out the beer. Maybe up the actual honey (not malt) to 1 lb. Add post boil or during fermentation to preserve the flavor/aroma.

 

[blugrazz]

You are right about the 3 lbs. I caught that in the recipe but thought I had changed it here as well. I believe it was 3 oz.

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

Does that say 3 lbs of Honey Malt? For a 5 gal batch? If im reading that right thats way too much. That'll taste like Winnie the Poo's anus.

I have tears I'm laughing so hard at this quote. Nice work.

 

[drives_a_bike]

Resurrection time! I brew an annual Honey Basil Double Pale Ale, in fact I just made this years and oh boy is it delicious!

4lbs 2 row
1lbs flaked oats
1lbs honey malt
8oz 10L
6lbs Pilsen LME
12oz Local Honey

1oz Summit @60
1oz Simcoe @10
3oz Fresh Organic Basil (scored) @10
1oz Mosaic @5

WLP001 California Ale

OG 1.081
FG ??? (still fermenting)